168

THE DECLINE AND FALL

chap, fortress, than George Castriot dropt the mask of

LX VII ... 1

dissimulation, abjured the prophet and the sul-tan, and proclaimed himself the avenger of hisfamily and country. The names of religion andliberty provoked a general revolt: the Albanians,a martial race, were unanimous to live and diewith their hereditary prince; and the Ottomangarrisons were indulged in the choice of martyr-dom or baptism. In the assembly of the statesof Epirus, Scanderbeg was elected general of theTurkish war; and each of the allies engaged tofurnish his respective proportion of men andmoney. From these contributions, from his pa-trimonial estate, and from the valuable salt-pitsof Selina, he drew an annual revenue of twohundred thousand ducats; 11 and the entire sum,exempt from the demands of luxury, was strict-ly appropriated to the public use. His mannerswere popular; but his discipline was severe; andevery superfluous vice was banished from hiscamp: his example strengthened his command;and under his conduct, the Albanians were in-vincible in their own opinion and that of their

Hisvaiour, enemies. The bravest adventurers of France and Germany were allured by his fame and re-tained in his service; his standing militia consist-ed of eight thousand horse and seven thousandfoot; the horses were small, the men were ac-tive: but he viewed with a discerning eye thedifficulties and resources of the mountains; and,at the blaze of the beacons, the whole nation wasdistributed in the strongest posts. With such

i His revenue and forces are luckily given by Marinus (1. ii, p. 44).